Naruto: Without Drive
by MadDiction
Summary: How will Naruto grow up with no Kyuubi, no parents, and no ambition? Smart/Strong/Neutral Naruto
1. Using the Force

Hey everyone, this is my attempt at a certain idea I really like, which will be more developed later on in the story. I really want to see some reviews, so please post them. For more info and stuff see the bottom, though right quick I'll say that I need a beta.

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I don't own Naruto, and it's too troublesome to bother trying to steal it.

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Summary: The Yondaime Hokage was a sealing god, enough that, rather than put the Kyuubi in his son, he puts it in himself and then the seal kills him, drawing the Kyuubi into hell as well. Naruto's mother, Kushina Uzumaki, died during childbirth (weeks earlier). Because the baby had been a secret to all but Sarutobi, Naruto was put into the orphanage along with all of the other orphans. See how Naruto develops in a world in which he has no influence from the Kyuubi (better chakra control), no drive for attention (he's not hated), and no drive for solitude (he's not famous).

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Naruto stared at the tan wall of the orphanage. He was in the communal room right now, staring at the wall. He had been doing that more often lately, and the caretakers had noticed.

"What do you think is wrong with him? Does he need a doctor?" one said.

The other responded, "I'm not sure. Only five years old and he stares at walls all day… but maybe it'll pass. Bear in mind he's never had parents before…"

Of course, the only flaw in their analysis was that Naruto had great blood in him. Good enough that he was doing what many aspiring ninja would learn only years later.

The orphanage was in the residential district of Konoha, and its young residents were required to stay in that district. However, in a place like Konoha there were still ninja everywhere. Wherever Naruto looked, he saw people he could identify as ninja, all wearing the same Leaf headband. He did not know much about ninja, education in the orphanage was centered more about civilian life and how to operate independently. (The orphanage could only support so many kids at once; some kids had to move out eventually.) However, Naruto had learned a couple of things at least. For one thing, ninjas of different ranks wore different stuff. The young, weak ones wore only a headband, and the older, stronger ones wore a vest. The rarest ones he saw, some that were many years older than him and far stronger, wore vests slightly different than the ones slightly weaker. He had learned their names; genin, chuunin, and jounin respectively.

Naruto wasn't sure how he could tell that some people were stronger than others. Oh, sure, he could list several things. They could teleport around, ran across the rooftops much more quickly, walked more adroitly, were more on guard… but there was one thing he could not describe, but that was unique to only the ninja he saw. And that was what he was doing right now. He was manipulating his chakra around him.

Of course, he didn't know what it was called, but he felt within him what he felt in those ninja, and not in anyone else in the orphanage. It was a beautiful thing, powerful, and yet so calming. At his will, it moved anywhere on his body. The feet were tougher than the hands, but as he grew more used to it, he found himself able to make it dance across his body.

With this realization, he became aware that the teleporting the ninja were doing was rooted in this force. He saw it flare as they disappeared, and dissipate as they reappeared. One of the most miraculous things about this force, something he loved, was that it was constantly improving. As he could train his body, he could train this force to become more responsive and, over time, his supply began to grow. As he wondered what on Earth this force was, he noticed that, though his caretakers, people he felt rather ambivalent to, looked uncomprehendingly at him as he manipulated it, when he did it outside ninja stared at him, and some asked him what his name was. He was not antisocial, but shy enough that he eventually decided to do it indoors only, though he preferred the outdoors….

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(2 Weeks Later)

Naruto now had a pretty good grasp on the "force", and he realized that, by releasing it from his body, he could actually affect the world around him! He had practiced releasing it from all over his body, and had found that while, say, lifting himself off the ground was impossible, and it made him really tired, he could roll a ball a couple feet in front of him. He would do this for his "friends" sometimes, to impress them. He didn't actually make friends. He felt that talking to people, while fun for a while, became boring after extended periods of time. And when he became friends with people, they wanted to hang around him a lot, which got on his nerves. He wasn't mean, just…. not overly kind. He didn't know why people were so drawn to him.

One of the caretakers walked up to him and smiled sweetly. "Hi Naruto-kun! Ready for your trip to the Hokage?" she said, with perhaps a little too much cheeriness. Though he supposed that it was her job to make a bunch of kids with no parents or independence happy…

"Yes," he responded calmly.

He didn't know why the Hokage saw him once every 6 months. He was the only kid whom the Hokage personally requested to see, but the Hokage never asked or told him anything important. He just asked him how his life was going, whether he needed anything, and if he had any questions. Well, for once, that might come in handy. After all, he knew that you had to be a strong ninja to be the Kage, and when he had become aware of the "force", he had seen an immense amount in the Hokage. So, who better to ask about than the Hokage himself?

Naruto looked up at the woman guiding him to the Hokage Tower. He knew the way there already, but he supposed it was for the best that someone guide him; who knows what people might think when a little kid walked through the ninja district by himself? The women seemed uncomfortable walking through this district, but Naruto had no idea why. He quite preferred this district to the residential one. Rather than banks, grocery markets, or clothing shops this district was full of awesome shops. Sure, there were clothing shops here too, but they had elegant ninja garb and cool ninja supplies. Naruto also loved the specialty shops, there were shops catering to certain ninja's, for lack of a better word, fetishes. All kinds of shops selling strange and unique food or highly irregular clothing or weapons were available. There was also the ninja supply store, which had all kinds of kunai, cloth, survival tools, tutorial books…

Naruto drew his thoughts away from those things and focused on the people around him. Ninjas were very interesting people; they seemed to get stranger as they got older. The young genin wore normal looking clothes, talked in groups about things, at least when Naruto could hear them, that normal kids would, and walked normally. Chuunin wore standard ninja clothing and colors, walked almost exclusively in groups of three, and talked almost exclusively about ninja things. They were the most boring. The jounin were the most fun to walk near. They wore strange clothing, talked about a myriad of things, walked with an adeptness that seemed unnatural, and often had strange behaviors and mannerisms. He observed as one jounin was chased around the rooftops by one of his comrades, laughing.

Suddenly a ball rolled up to him. Naruto picked it up and looked around for the owner. It was a silver haired man with a facemask covering all but one eye. He seemed to be a jounin, though the "force" in this one felt exceptionally large.

The man said, "Here, kid, mind throwing it to me?" Naruto watched as several ninja behind him, clearly walking with him, seemed upset at the holdup.

"Yeah, sure," Naruto said.

Naruto decided to use one of his cool "force" tricks where he pretended to throw the ball lightly, but user "force" to push the ball away from his hand, making an innocent toss as fast as a throw. As he did this, the jounin caught the ball, but his eye looked surprised at the stunt.

"Hey, kid, what's your name?" he asked.

Naruto's caretaker responded before Naruto could, saying, "I'm sorry if he caused you any trouble, but we must be going, we're late for an appointment with the Hokage! Sorry…"

"No problem," the man said unfazed. "See you later kid." But Kakashi (duh) ,though it may have seemed like an offhand comment, was going to carry through on that statement. He would find this boy later and talk to him. It was nigh impossible for a boy his age to use chakra, at least, not unless he was trained. And Kakashi had never heard of him…

Naruto just nodded and walked off, reminding himself that ninja could feel this "force" as well. Damn, he really needed to figure out what it was called….

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The Sandaime Hokage (for my sake, Sarutobi from now on) smiled as Naruto was brought in.

"Hello, Naruto-kun!" Sarutobi said, "and you may leave, Aya(completely, 100%, made up. I don't even know the rules for naming, but this seems like 1 of maybe 2 things that definitely needs to sound Japanese. Can anyone help with that?)."

"Hello, Sarutobi-san," Naruto answered.

"Thank you, Hokage-san" Aya replied as she bowed out.

"Well, Naruto-kun, you know the drill by now, so is anything new?" Sarutobi asked. Though he chuckled as he said this, he was really hoping Naruto would say something.

"Actually, Sarutobi-san, I have a question I want to ask you," Naruto said slowly

Sarutobi focused. _'This is new,'_ he thought. "Okay, Naruto-kun, shoot"

"What is this?" Naruto asked while channeling his chakra around his body, hoping Sarutobi would see it.

Well, Sarutobi did see it, and he had hundreds of emotions, all of them positive. Sure, it was shocking that the boy could sense his own chakra at his age, especially without guidance, and in any child this would be considered a sign that he was a prodigy. However, Sarutobi just could not force himself to be as surprised as he should have been. No one, save him and Jiraiya,, knew that Naruto's parents were the Yondaime Hokage and Kushina Uzumaki, both of them exceptional ninjas. Naturally, his origins had to be kept a secret. With the Yondaime dead from having "killed" the Kyuubi, and his mother having died during childbirth, no one could protect him from the enemies his father had amassed, especially when his mother's clan was now almost completely wiped out. Sure, he could have made it public and had the clans fight over the boy, but the Yondaime and his wife had kept it a secret so well, it seemed to make so much more sense to just leave the boy in the heands of the orphanage rather than start a civil war over a mere child. Although mere was an inappropriate word, considering what he was witnessing.

Going back to Naruto, Sarutobi realized that, in addition to his exceptional control, Naruto had more chakra than any genin, and, while not yet at chuunin capacity, it was too close for someone so young, small, and untrained. Sarutobi pulled out his legendary Professor knowledge.

"That, Naruto-kun," he began "is what we ninja call chakra. It is a combination of both our life-force, and our mental capacity, bound to a form that can influence the world around us. It is a powerful force, both for hurting and healing. It forms the basis for jutsu, which we ninja use for many purposes, mainly for fighting. Chakra can be attuned to different elements, or left in its raw form, though you will learn about this later, as you begin your ninja training. What you need to know is that, though nobody else your age is likely to be able to use chakra yet, it is necessary for most any ninja to learn how to form and control it."

Naruto had been nodding throughout the whole lesson. He had known most of the stuff, though it did clarify some things. He also made note of the fact that Sarutobi had assumed Naruto would go to the Academy already, an assumption Naruto was perfectly alright with; he would definitely go if it would help him learn about his chakra. He just loved chakra, it was perhaps one of the only things he truly loved at all. Flowing, dying, regenerating… it was beautiful. Naruto shook himself out of his reverie.

"Thank you Sarutobi-san, I appreciate the information. That leaves only two other questions; when will I go to the Academy, and when will I live by myself?" Naruto asked.

"The answer to both of those questions is the same. At seven years old you will begin attending the Academy and, if you so choose, you may live by yourself starting then too. Naturally, you will live in the apartments reserved for orphans just moving out of the orphanage, and you will have a stipend." the wizened Kage explained.

"Sounds good to me," Naruto said.

"Oh, yes, and one more thing, Naruto-kun. It seems a shame to force you to spend a whole 2 years without being able to get some guidance, but you are too young to be properly tutored. But I will give you these scrolls on the basis of taijutsu, basic ninjutsu, and knowledge covered in the Academy for you to look at," Sarutobi said as he pulled several scrolls out of his desk and handed them to Naruto, who held out his hands with some excitement. That simple response to this gift made Sarutobi feel like his decision was wise. It was a risk allowing someone so young to study on things more advanced then usual, he had seen good students go bad… but seeing the boy who rarely expressed emotions excited about something warmed his heart. He was sure once Naruto found people like him he would make friends and open up, but until then, he could learn if it suited him. _'Ahhh, Minato. If you were here, I'm sure you'd already be making him into a fine ninja. I'm sorry the best I can do is give him these scrolls'_

Little did he realize that giving Naruto those scrolls would change the world, by giving Naruto the power to do what he wanted with the world. But that would take a while….wouldn't it?

"Thank you Sarutobi-kun!" (kun intentional, Naruto is appreciative) Naruto said as he bowed and then bolted out of the room, meeting up with Aya before setting off back to the orphanage. Naruto knew he would love the scroll on ninjutsu, but he didn't realize he would love the ones on taijutsu and the Academy knowledge just as much, albeit for different reasons.

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So, what do you think? Be sure to drop a comment, now that this is in the early stages of development I'll definitely take whatever you give me and apply it later. I know the dialogue is rigid and I'm bad with the Japanese stuff, but that's what I need a Beta for! (1 obvious transition later)

I NEED a beta. The beta must do a couple main things; fill in the Japanese script and proofread. I don't have time to learn Japanese, so filling in the jutsu names/name suffixes with their Japanese translations would be a huge help. Plus, 1 typo can ruin a chapter, and rereading my story 100 times won't be different than what I wrote the first time.

In addition, pairings are 100% in the air. It won't become a real relationship until much later anyways, so I'm flexible for now, just vote who and why and I'll pick whatever sounds the best. As for affinities I have my personal favorite, but if you have an opinion on the secondary, feel free to mention it. (Lightning will be the main, it's just cool… though if there's a lot of people who want something else, I'll change lightning to a secondary and make him have 3 affinities, he's a prodigy after all)


	2. Just Want To Train All Day

Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate it! Also, this story being up seems to have generated some views for my last story as well, and while I really don't mind, I have no plans at the moment to continue that story. It has the same general idea as this one, but I really rushed it, and kind of ruined a couple of the plot mechanics I really wanted to use. So for now, this is my only focus; we'll see later if I can handle more than one story at once! (Although, is there anything in particular I do better in that one than this one? Let me know)

So, it's still not definite (there are still some chapters to go before I decide on a final pairing), but Naruto/Ino is in the lead. I am kind of sick of reading Naruto/Hinata and Naruto/Sakura, not because they're bad pairings (they make the most sense), but just because 90% of stories that have romance at all either use those two exclusively or in a harem.

Well, on the topic of the story, this chapter will introduce a central plot of the story. For those that read it and don't get it, see the bottom Author's Notes, I'll explain where I'm going there. Also, NEW POLLS (Perhaps the most important polls in terms of how you influence this fic)

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Yeah, I do not own Naruto. Honestly, would you believe me if I said I did?

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Naruto had immediately rushed home. Well, as fast as he could with Aya slowing him down. He was excited to be able to study scrolls on ninjutsu, being able to his chakra was going to be really fun. But his conversation with Sarutobi had introduced another factor into this whole thing; having shown Sarutobi his chakra, it was now assumed that he would go into the Ninja Academy and, eventually, become a ninja. So he knew he would have to look at the other scrolls in addition to the ninjutsu one. And, wanting to save the best for last he decided to start with the Academy scroll, then taijutsu, then study until the Academy on ninjutsu! Although he wondered if the Hokage would give him a new scroll if he finished with these…

It was then Naruto realized he had another problem. Naturally, he imagined the ninjutsu would be obvious, perhaps destructive, when used. Unfortunately, leaving the residential district would be impossible, and doing it in the residential district even worse. The only option left was in his room in the orphanage. The orphanage was designed to survive ninja raids, so he supposed that he would be unlikely to damage it any more than adult ninja could. The problem was that he didn't want to attract attention, but there was no place he could be alone. Orphans lived in rooms of two, for companionship purposes, and Naruto hadn't had much interest in his roommate before. He would have to talk to her about keeping quiet about the ninjutsu training.

Naruto held in his excitement until the caretakers called out bedtime. Naruto walked nonchalantly into his room to find that his roommate was already there. He tried to remember the girl's name. It was…. Tenten, he believed.

"Hello, Tenten-kun. I need to talk to you about something," Naruto said, putting on the best smile he could.

"Yeah, what?" Tenten said offhandedly, clearly not interested in her roommate (who had "ignored" her all the years before).

"Well, you know what ninja are, right Tenten?" he said.

"Yes, I see them around sometimes… what about them?" she responded.

"Well, you see, I recently got some scrolls about becoming a ninja, and I wanted to try them out. However, the caretakers would obviously be concerned if they did find out, so please don't tell them!" Naruto said. He suspected she would agree, after all, she had nothing to lose.

"Hmmmm…. sure, but you'll have to do me a favor then…" Tenten answered, surprising Naruto. Naruto gestured for her to continue. "You see, I've been stocking up on some ninja equipment myself," she began, while pulling out a box full of old kunai knives, senbon, and some daggers from under her bed. "The caretakers would never let me have these kunai if they knew about them, but I've been wanting to practice with them for a while now. So, I won't tell them if you don't tell them when I start throwing these in here, okay?" she asked, a bit nervous about having shown her secret stash of weapons to someone. She didn't want to lose them.

Now, Naruto could understand people, especially children. They were all so simple. He knew that she would ordinarily not show anyone those weapons, but his natural charisma had opened her up enough to reveal them. A worthy tactical advantage, if he did say so himself. If the caretakers found out about the weapons, the caretakers would not only not let her keep them, but likely throw her out too. After all, kids weren't even allowed to bring ceramic bowls up to their rooms for fear that they would shatter them and use the pieces as weapons. Sure, it was an irrational thought, but these were orphans, so you never knew when one would snap… Naruto shook his head, focusing again. Now he knew that he would get in trouble for the weapons if they were ever found, at least he would if they figured out he knew, since unlike ninjutsu, there would be solid evidence of their existence, such as holes in the wall and metal chips on the floor once the kunai wore out completely. He also knew that, even if he refused, he now had a weapon against Tenten. He could not have to deal with the weapons and practice at the same time, with no fear of Tenten telling. But making an enemy of a roommate he would have for two more years didn't sound appealing…

"Fine, I won't tell if you won't. I'll be up for a couple more hours reading, so don't turn off the lights." Naruto said coolly, having lost interest in the conversation once he realized that he had an advantage in information over this Tenten girl. It didn't matter how mean he was, she could no longer squeal on him. Tenten nodded and climbed into bed. Sure, she wanted to try out the weapons, but it had been a long day and she was tired. Trying out weapons could wait until tomorrow, as she passed out like the log that all tired young children became.

Naruto pored over his scrolls, selecting and opening the Academy one. He began reading and soon found that it was like a history scroll, with some common ninja facts once in a while. He began skimming; he knew he would have to relearn it all once he got into the Academy anyways, until he got to one very interesting sentence. The scroll stated that because chakra was a combination of mental and physical energies, only a combination of training your body and training your mind could achieve maximum chakra capacity. In addition, both of these trainings would help in taijutsu fights, where quick thinking and strong bodies made all the difference. 'Looks like it's time for me to start working out," Naruto thought uncaringly. If it would give him more chakra, then he would gladly spend time training himself. Deciding that that was all the progress he would make for the night, Naruto also clambered into bed. After all, a child could surpass the limits of his age by only so much, so he had to sleep too.

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The next day he woke up and went through the same routine as always. He got up, brushed his teeth, showered, ate some food… well, the food was unusual. Usually they stocked these cheap and healthy meals that contained everything vital to survival and growth, but were rather bland and tasteless. Today they served a more delicious meal, he didn't know why. Then they went through the scheduled lesson, this whole month had been about managing your money properly, before declaring free time for the rest of the day. Dinner would be served in a couple hours, then bedtime. However, this time they once again warned everyone not to leave the residential district under any conditions. Naruto decided he would go running, he would have to if he wanted more chakra.

As he ran, he heard the sounds of a celebration. He continued to run until he came to the street connecting the residential district to the ninja district. Once there, he stopped running and look into the ninja district to see dancing, music, and drinking. He had been wondering why the residential district had been so empty, it was because today was a party… It was only once he saw an enormous effigy of a fox being burned down that he remembered. This was the day the Yondaime had killed the Kyuubi, so everyone was partying. He turned away, bored once the riddle was solved, until he noticed a man on the wall between the two districts. Naruto squinted and saw a man with silver hair and a facemask, whom he recognized as the man he had thrown the ball too. Naruto was curious why he was not partying, but not curious enough to ask. He began to run along the street away from the celebration, and he turned a corner heading back to the orphanage. He had already been running for 2 hours, it was almost dinner time.

As Naruto turned the corner and disappeared, the brooding Kakashi had turned his head in Naruto's direction, and had seen him just as he disappeared. More importantly, he had noticed Naruto's hair. However, Kakashi was drunk, and seeing the hair only made him sadder. It reminded him of the Yondaime, and therefore of Obito and the other comrades of his who had died. He frowned and drank more liquor. Today was a day for happiness for all but the Yondaime's pupil. Though there was regret for the Yondaime's death in everyone, Kakashi felt it the most. Kakashi drank another sip, which was apparently the straw that broke the camel's back, as a smile appeared on his face and he fell off the wall. Today he was going to reread every Icha Icha book he owned, it was a day for partying!

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That night, as Tenten threw her kunai against the wall, Naruto studied his taijutsu scroll. The reason Tenten could throw her weapons at all was Naruto. Just before she had thrown her first kunai, an action that would later become second-nature to her, Naruto had told her to stop. She had asked why, and he had explained.

"Tenten, you will surely be caught if you're going to poke holes in our walls…" Naruto explained as Tenten nodded. "But I have an idea, so don't worry," Naruto had reassured the sad looking girl. He had taken two kunai and rubbed them together until their tips became dull. He had then taken a pillow and leaned it against the wall, and the put a second pillow on top of the one, bringing it up to shoulder-height. He had then told her, "Go ahead now Tenten. You won't be able to pierce the pillows, just put them back when you're done." Tenten had been appreciative, and had not even noticed that Naruto was smiling.

You see, Naruto had no competition. In the orphanage, there was not much to compete in, besides races the kids would sometimes do, but Naruto had not had any interest in physical training, until he learned its uses with chakra. So he had intentionally waited until just as Tenten was about to throw before he explained and solved the problem for her. He had made this a competition; he had wanted to see if she could see as far ahead as he could. Evidently not, since she had been about to get them both in a bunch of trouble. Having won that mental contest, Naruto was happy as he got back to work. Little did he realize that that was only number two on his list of ambitions; become a master of chakra, and win. And Naruto was born to fulfill his ambitions, once he got them.

Naruto had begun reading the taijutsu scroll. It was boring as hell, but Naruto could care less. It was knowledge that would help him master chakra, since the other scroll had said taijutsu used the same resources as chakra; mental and physical strength. Naruto was reading through the scroll when he realized something sad. These were extremely basic kata. There were only 5 stances for him to cycle through, and some tips on how to properly punch, kick, and move while fighting. He was now almost dreading the ninjutsu scroll, after all, if it was as simple as this scroll he might already know what it taught! However, Naruto knew that, at least for the six months until he went back to the Hokage, he would be able to find something to do that would help him with his chakra. After all, the scroll couldn't contain nothing of value, and he could always build on what it taught. He brought himself back to the present and continued reasing the scroll before getting on his feet and going through the stances. The book had said to repeat the stances three or four times a day for weeks before speeding up all the way, but Naruto felt that such a thing would be stupid. After two repeats, his body felt attuned to the movements and he could already go through all the stances at his maximum speed almost flawlessy. He decided that physical training would be important for this too, if he wanted to go faster.

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The next day repeated the last day, albeit without the good food, a fact that Naruto was a bit unhappy about. Good food was, well, good. However, at night as he opened up the third and final scroll, he suddenly felt himself being watched. This was a new sensation. For some reason he could feel his actions being watches, he just instinctively knew from where, and he could almost make out the shape of this person; how he could do this, he did not know. He turned around slowly to find that Tenten was watching him.

"Hey, Naruto, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Nothing much, go back to throwing your kunai, you have gotten much better," Naruto nonchalantly responded. He was exaggerating there. In fact, he had picked up a kunai for fun and threw it, only to find that he was already better than she was. However, he saw no reason to tell her this, and training with kunai was something he would be forced to do in the Academy soon anyways, he did not want to bother with that yet… not while there was stuff about this fascinating chakra to be learned.

Tenten smiled and nodded, doubling her efforts at throwing. Naruto almost laughed; he just could not understand why people listened to him so attentively, but he supposed it could hardly hurt. As he went back to his scroll, he opened it and, as soon as he did, found to his bewilderment a small card slipped out and hit the ground. He picked it up and put it back on the scroll, and began reading. The first thing he noticed was that most of these were chakra control techniques, not actual ninjutsu, and that there were only three actual ninjutsu; kawirimi, henge, and bunshin. Naruto thought that these sounded useful, but he restrained himself and looked back at the top. He would read everything in the scroll, then decide on the order. As he read more about leaf balancing and tree walking, he could not help but smile; chakra was really cool!

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(Time passed: 5 months 28 days)

Naruto knew that he was only a day away from going back to see the Hokage, and he could not help but be impatient. Everything in that scroll was too simple. He had mastered the chakra control exercises, he was able to water walk while floating leaves now, he could perform the three ninjutsu, the taijutsu scroll was laughable, and he had memorized the Academy scroll on his second reading of it. In fact, only a couple of interesting things had happened. For one, he had gotten into the habit of throwing Tenten's kunai when she fell asleep, since he figured it was the least she could unknowingly do for him keeping her secret. He kind of enjoyed throwing two at once from both ands and getting them to hit each other and then both hit the pillow. Sure, after they hit each other he had trouble predicting their trajectory, but he had gotten much better very quickly, though his only comparison for speed was Tenten. He could not help but wonder if she was slow; it was a mean thought, but he picked up on this stuff so much faster than she did.

More importantly, Naruto had discovered something that he did not even realize the importance of. Chakra was so simple for him, so easy to understand, that after he had practiced the ninjutsu for a while, he began being able to do them without hadseals. After all, the seal regulated the way his chakra moved, and Naruto could feel, almost even see, the way his chakra moved through his body. He found the seals to be unnecessary, though it sometimes helped when he was trying to do two really quickly after eachother, since sometimes chakra from one would leak over into the other without handseals, though this had improved along with his handseals. The scroll did not mention anything about doing jutsu without seals, but Naruto supposed it must be normal, though tomorrow would be the perfect opportunity to ask the Hokage about it. He was also hoping to get some new scrolls, since these had not lasted long. He climbed into bed and willed himself to sleep, eventually succeeding only after he stopped trying so hard. His final thoughts before falling asleep were, _'I wonder if my parents were ninja too… I wonder what they were like…'_ During the day, he found that he could care less about who his parents were. It was a sad fact hat he was an orphan, but life wasn't bad, and he was positive that knowing his parents wouldn't change anything, though it might make his life more complicated. He would ponder it more, but a night of dreamless sleep awaited him; but he thought it was normal.

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Okay, I'm going to point out some stuff about the story here. I would have done it in the story, but InARealPickle pointed out that it was annoying, and though I hadn't noticed as I read it, I also wrote those noted to begin with. Thanks for the constructive criticism, and let me know if there's anything else I need to fix. Speaking of fixing, I still need a Beta, though I suppose I can do without.

Naruto has enormous stamina. I mean, the seal was designed to slowly feed chakra into Naruto, so for him to be a tank so early, he had to have something there to begin with. Not godlike, but more than the norm.

Also, I know co-ed rooms in sounds unrealistic, but I wanted to use an actual Naruto character, since I'm bad with names, so I could only think of one who has been used in an orphanage before. Besides, these are the cootie-years, so unless you can warrant two 5 year olds getting busy, the roommates would talk to each other, nothing more, and the caretakers would know it.

Also, you'll notice that I made it so Naruto's chakra discovery really begins on what is his birthday, since his mother died during childbirth two weeks before the Kyuubi, and the story started two weeks before the festival. It's not really important, but it kind of represents that Naruto was born to be a great ninja, but he doesn't know it. I also put in constant references to Minato, as far as Naruto's charisma. I just felt like it would be cool that Naruto, who doesn't care much for people, happens to be really good with , Naruto may seem overpowered, but bear in mind two things; he doesn't know what normal power is, he's never seen another ninja fight, and he doesn't have any ninja-to-be friends except maybe Tenten, who doesn't care about ninjutsu (though he is far better than her with weapons, if that tells you anything).

I also like that they burned the Kyuubi. I just feel like it's ironic, since that would never work against the real deal. They should've put the effigy in a storage scroll, since that would've been more realistic.

Finally, Naruto will be an all around ninja. He may eventually learn genjutsu and fuuinjutsu, review if you have an opinion on it. He is a genius, but he has trouble making himself care except when he gets a goal. Since he's fascinated by chakra, he's quickly progressing through anything to help him get better with chakra. Later, when he gets new goals, he'll get better at those faster too. The main conflict here is that Naruto has no real interest for friends or Konoha, only chakra and competition. What will this mean later?

Now for the polls. The relationship poll and element polls will only affect the story superficially, which is important, but not as important as these polls, which WILL INFLUENCE THE STORY.

Naruto's sensei?

Naruto's teammates. Should he even have any?

Describe Academy years, or skip it to get to the good stuff? More exposition if I do, faster if I don't.

Favorite country? (This will involve Naruto, I don't want to give to much away, but what is your favorite place in the Naruto universe?)

Sorry for mega long Author's Notes. Again, please review!


	3. A New Sensei Appears

Hey guys, thanks for the reviews. I wrote more than 10K words in less than 24 hours, a feat which I am probably not going to repeat. It was only this fast for two reasons; I was not busy today, and I have had this idea for a while now. However, you can certainly expect updates of this size (I don't know if it'll be 10K, but bare minimum of 5K) weekly, if not more often than that, and if I can only update once a week, I'll make it as big as I possibly can. During the school year, I may only release a chapter of about this size every week, but that's still not that bad, neh? More detailed Author's Notes at the bottom

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I do not own Naruto

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Naruto went through the same routine as always, except now he tried to mix things up sometimes. He tried using kawirimi to swap with a towel in the bathroom, and he used henge to make himself slightly different, just small changes. Of course, he dropped these before walking outside his room as they were pointless, but he was always fascinated as the chakra, before always so free and flowing, would suddenly solidify into a structure of his choosing, in a density of his design. He liked how it looked, he felt like he could see the change the henge made on him and the chakra the henge used itself at the same time; it was a strange, but good, feeling.

He went downstairs and ate, and waited for Aya to come and take him to the Hokage. She arrived, wearing a face that seemed too cheerful and bothered Naruto. He felt that she should keep her good fortune to herself, and get him on his way to see his. They went through the residential district as always, though he did notice that more and more shops were opening. The village really was doing well. They continued to walk until they reached the ninja district. From there Naruto started really paying attention, though he was being stagnated in his quest for information by Aya, who seemed to wish nothing better than to walk back to the residential district and let Naruto go by himself. But she remained firm in her task and guided Naruto to the Hokage Tower. Before they got there, Naruto saw something which truly fascinated him. A woman and man were arguing, they seemed to be high chuunin level, though Naruto had learned that the amount of chakra someone had did not determine their rank.

"It took me weeks to learn the technique, but I did!" the girl bragged to her comrade.

"No way, that's an A-rank technique, how would you learn it?" The man scoffed.

"I'll prove it to you then!" the girl said, making Naruto stop and stare.

Aya turned around to look at Naruto, then turned to see what he was staring at. She then seemed impatient and told Naruto sternly, "Come on, don't bother them. They have their own things to do and we have ours."

Naruto then smiled sweetly and pleaded, "Please, Aya-san, just one more second?"

Aya had rarely seen Naruto so passionate about something, so she turned to the two ninja and waited for whatever they were doing to be over so they could leave, deciding not to reject Naruto's request when he so rarely made one.

The female ninja began making handseals, which Naruto subconsciously memorized. But that was not what he was looking at, it was her chakra, how it moved and changed and flowed… it was mesmerizing. Finally, she yelled, "Water Dragon!"

A tiny dragon came out, composed only of the water she had been carrying with her in a bottle. Naruto nearly balked. She had put it too much chakra for it all to be wasted. However, ignoring her mistakes, he watched as the dragon twisted and turned as her chakra did, until she cut off the chakra flow, further wasting the chakra connecting the dragon to her. Naruto felt that she could have tried to take back what had not been used, or at least let the connecting chakra flow into the dragon, to give it just a few more seconds of life… Oh well, he supposed there was a reason for this.

The male ninja whistled and said, "Not bad! It was pretty weak, but that's a neat trick!"

The female ninja smiled and said, "Yeah, I know." and kept walking.

Aya had been wide-eyed as the dragon moved, but once it was gone, pushed Naruto onwards.

"Come on, Naruto-kun, we will be late if you keep standing there," she said.

Naruto relented and continued moving, but he was quietly and slowly forming the seals he had seen the woman use, while molding the chakra inside his body, doing his best to mimick hers, but without the wasteful gestures. They were just outside the Hokage Tower when he finally decided to let the chakra out. He had long since realized that saying the name of the jutsu was useless, letting your opponent realize what you were doing even if he couldn't see you. It was just a way to psyche yourself up for the sudden release of chakra, same as focusing would. He let the chakra he had molded out of his body, and saw to his delight that water around him began to form a dragon in front of him. Aya was still walking resolutely ahead, glad to be so near her destination, not even noticing the dragon forming behind her.

This dragon had much less water than the female ninja's had, but it quickly became far larger, the size of Naruto in height, and much longer. Ninja turned around to look, gaping as this little boy performed a jutsu he should not no and could not do. Naruto, in his defense, had overestimated the amount of chakra required from having watched the girl, and had intended for it to be much smaller. In addition, he would have cancelled it sooner, but this was his first elemental jutsu, and he was fascinated by the chakra, swirling and moving along with the dragon in front of him. He completely lost focus. The dragon roared, and three things happened at once.

Aya yelled and ran forward, unsure what had made the ghastly noise. She turned and saw Naruto with a dragon made of water in front of him, and did not know what to think. Naruto, for his part, quickly jolted back to reality and let go of the chakra, but he made a mistake, letting the chakra connecting him and the dragon continue to enter the dragon; usually a good idea, and one requiring enormous skill, but not when trying to end a jutsu as fast as possible. Ninja all around, who had originally another ninja was showing off his proficiency in a jutsu all turned to face Naruto as they heard the dragon roar, all of them on edge. They all saw Naruto cancel the chakra, as the dragon let out a final roar before dissolving.

The crowd of ninja began murmuring, staring, and pointing at Naruto, most of them in disbelief, others assuming it was a joke. One silver-haired man with a facemask who Naruto recognized, Naruto knew now that he was an Anbu, quickly shoved them inside the Hokage Tower, following them indoors. What he had just seen had to be reported, and had to be acted upon.

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Naruto and Aya entered the Hokage's office, and Aya was waved out, much to her relief; she was frightened stiff, and was still unsure of what had happened. The Hokage, for his part, had looked out his window when he heard the commotion going on beneath the Hokage Tower, but did not know what had caused the ruckus. He figured someone else would fix it. Kakashi had walked in with Aya and Naruto, and now stood behind Naruto, while waiting for the Hokage to speak.

"Hello Naruto, it is great to see you. I'll get to you in one second, let me just speak to Kakashi for a moment," the Hokage said kindly, while beckoning for Kakashi to come closer. Naruto just shrugged and walked to the chair, to sit and think about what had just happened. He knew a couple of things were off. How had he done something so easily when a chuunin had had so much trouble. Was his dragon somehow inferior? It had felt the same…. no, it had felt stronger. He continued to brood over this while Kakashi walked closer to the Hokage, and waited for him to speak.

"What's wrong, Kakashi? Is it about what is happening outside?" the Hokage whispered, though Naruto could easily hear him. He had gotten into the habit of constantly putting chakra into his eyes, ears, and nose, having long since realized that it made the world sharper. He no longer felt the drain on his reserves, his diligent exercising having increased his reserves astronomically.

"Yes, Hokage-san. You see… this boy… he used a water dragon jutsu…. perhaps, more importantly, I believe he used it only minutes after watching another ninja perform it… is this possible?" Kakashi whispered, anxiously awaiting the answer.

Sarutobi sat silently for a few moments, thinking it over. He did not doubt Kakashi's word, but he knew he had given Naruto only the most basic of ninjutsu scrolls, was it possible for him to perform such a high-level jutsu by mimicry alone?

"Come here, Naruto-kun," he said, and waited for Naruto to get up and face him attentively. Sarutobi continued, "Naruto-kun, how have you been doing on the scrolls, and can you describe for me what happened outside?"

"Sarutobi-san, the scrolls you provided were very simple, and I had them completed months ago. I was going to ask if I might get a more advanced scroll. As for what happened outside, I believe the ninja overreacted. A woman performed a jutsu she called 'Water Dragon jutsu', and I merely did the same thing. However, when I did, people began talking and making noise. I fear I have done something wrong, as mine was different than hers, and hers did not concern any ninja so much. In addition, the jutsu is, apparently, difficult. So, perhaps skipping steps and imitating her has caused the jutsu to become flawed…" Naruto reasoned out, still wondering why the people had been so noisy when he had done the same thing the woman had.

For his part, Sarutobi was shocked. To have done what took many ninja so long, and to have such a natural grasp for ninjutsu, put him on par with the Uchiha. And he was working without the Sharingan, and without the tutoring Itachi had received. Such proficiency put Naruto at prodigy levels, and Sarutobi was not sure what to do.

"Naruto-kun, I will get back to you right away about what can be done about your education, and I assure you that you have done nothing wrong. The ninja outside were merely surprised, and ninja take surprises very poorly, but for now, would you mind waiting outside while I speak to Kakashi?" the Hokage said almost laughing, putting up a front to clear any worry from Naruto's mind. Naruto detected the ruse, but shrugged it off, knowing that the Hokage had the right to tell him anything he wanted at his discretion. Naruto was a child, Sarutobi a Kage. Naruto left the room, and Kakashi and Sarutobi began talking quickly.

"Kakashi, I see now that Naruto-kun is proceeding far beyond my expectations. He is going at the rate Itachi is, but with only basic scrolls for guidance…" Sarutobi explained.

Kakashi thought for a second and said, "Well, we must surely do something to help him flourish. Does he have any living relatives at all? Anyone who may stake a claim to him? Or is he completely under the control of the village?"

Sarutobi pondered the question. If anyone could be told Naruto was the Yondaime's son, it would be Kakashi. But Kakashi would surely be angry at the Hokage for hiding it… though perhaps Kakashi would understand. Perhaps Kakashi would realize that he, as the Hokage, had made the best decision he could under the circumstances. And right now, he really needed advice about what to do. He was an old man, and he had become hardened in his belief, unable to respond to this new situation. He finally, perhaps selfishly, decided to get Kakashi's help on this matter.

"Kakashi, he has no relatives… he was the Yondaime's son, and please hold your responses for later, perhaps after we decide what to do with Naruto. Just know that giving him the Namikaze name would only give him enemies and trouble... or so I thought. That Naruto is a prodigy is not, perhaps, as surprising as is the fact that he has been under the radar for so long. We must decide what to do. Should his lineage be announced, despite the trouble it would cause? Minato did not have much to speak of, and what assets he had have already been sanctioned to the village itself. Giving Naruto the Namikaze name would only cause trouble, and would not give Naruto much, though a powerful clan **may** adopt him. But in the worst case scenario, an agreement would not be reached, Naruto would remain without any single clan agreeing to any other clan to have guardianship, and he would be left only with enemies. But without the title of Namikaze, how can we give Naruto the training he deserves? He does not have a clan to back him up, as the Uchiha did, and I am afraid that I cannot pull rank and take him under my belt, as Minato did for you. I am too old, and too tired. What should we do Kakashi?" Sarutobi said, laying all of the concerns on his mind out there.

Kakashi took all of this at once, and his mind had trouble sorting it all out. The first thing to register was that his sensei had a son. A legacy, a link to the living world, a… son. He also knew that the Hokage had lied to him, but he shut these thoughts out immediately. What good would it do him to be angry now? He processed everything the Hokage said and finally came up with an idea.

"Hokage-san, who else knows of Naruto's father?" Kakashi asked.

"Only me, Jiraiya, and now you, Kakashi," Sarutobi said, hoping Kakashi had an idea.

Kakashi thought about Jiraiya. He was shocked that he had abandoned Minato's son, but he supposed that Jiraiya had other things to do, and Kakashi felt heartened that someone else had been hit as hard as he had by Minato's death. Though that thought was a bit twisted, he could not deny that misery loves company. He realized that Jiraiya could only help Naruto. For now he was not even part of the equation, but if he later wanted to train Naruto, then that would be all the better. For now, Kakashi realized he had a chance to get guardianship of Naruto, his sensei's only child, and also out of the slump he felt he'd been in for some time.

Kakashi took up an earnest face, and told the listening Hokage his plan, "Hokage-san, I have grown tired of Anbu. I realize it is an honor for any ninja to be selected as the captain of a squad, but I simply cannot do it. The pain that my father must surely have felt before he... died, is what I feel I am beginning to experience." The Hokage blanched at this. It had been a huge shock when Kakashi's legendary father had committed suicide, and for Kakashi to be pulling out a card like that meant that this was really important to Kakashi. He gestured for Kakashi to continue.

"Well, knowing that, I'd like to resign from the Anbu. I will still take missions as a jounin, but I can no longer effectively handle the strain of Anbu life. And it is here that Naruto comes into play. As a new Jounin, I have a five year period before it becomes necessary that I officially take an apprentice or a genin squad. It is during these five years that I will take guardianship of Naruto. Call it an adoption if you must, but for now, no one knows about Naruto's genius. It would be easy to pass it off as a favor to the orphanage. I have money to spare to feed Naruto and I, and it would put him in better care than he must be getting at the orphanage. Once I am his legal guardian, I can train him without making a formal request to the council, and by the time my five years are up, he'll be what, 10 years old, right? Plenty old enough to become an apprentice, right, Hokage-san?" Kakashi finished his speech with a genuine smile on his face, hoping the Hokage wouldn't refuse.

The Hokage thought about this. It was indeed a good idea. There was no action in any of Kakashi's plan that would require council approval, and it could all be done without garnering any attention. His only concern was Kakashi's fathering abilities; after all, he had barely had a real father of his own, and Sarutobi recognized that Kakashi had never called Naruto his son. He could not call his sensei's child his own; perhaps his godson, but Kakashi did not wish to take the place of Minato. Sarutobi sighed. The plan was better than anything he had come up with, and perhaps being around someone like Kakashi would warm Naruto up, who remained rather unattached to people.

"Kakashi, we will ask Naruto only one question; how would you like to get a sensei to teach you. We will not tell him he is being adopted, who his father is, or any of the other circumstances regarding his situation. He may figure it out on his own, but we will keep it simple for him for now. Does he want a sensei?" Sarutobi said, while calling his secretary to send Naruto back in.

Naruto walked in, holding a small ball of water in his hands. Both Kakashi and Sarutobi noticed that it did not touch his hands, only floated between them. Apparently, Naruto had combined the water creation portion of the water dragon jutsu with the concept of water walking to allow him to hold water as if solid. Naruto looked at the two men, before chuckling nervously. Sarutobi and Kakashi were confused by the reaction, until they realized that Naruto had nowhere to put the water he was holding. The situation almost made them both laugh, especially having come after such a grim conversation.

Sarutobi said, "Just drop it, Naruto, you will find this room will absorb it immediately." Naruto did as told, and found to his surprise that it was true, the water vanished as it hit the floor. He was going to inspect the floor when he realized he was being watched, the ability to sense people's stares having become second nature to him, and looked at the two men.

Sarutobi asked suddenly, "Naruto, would you like a sensei to teach you more about being a ninja?"

Naruto didn't hesitate. He nodded and said, "Yes, please, Hokage-san."

This immediate reaction surprised Kakashi and Sarutobi, but the truth was Naruto had been thinking outside the door about the only feasible ways he would be taught, and had long since considered that a sensei might teach him, an agreeable situation for Naruto. Kakashi's visible eye curved upwards happily as he held out his hand to Naruto.

"Hello, Naruto-kun, my name is Kakashi, and I will be your sensei." Kakshi said cheerily.

Naruto shook his hand and replied, "Naruto Uzumaki, it's great to meet you Kakashi-san!" The reply held more than a little enthusiasm, which both men picked up on and were happy about.

"Pack your bags Naruto, I'll show you where to go," Kakashi said, already leading Naruto out of the room. Naruto simply nodded, but he had a perk to his step, knowing he would get guidance from an Anbu operative. In fact, he would have to ask about that later; he had never heard of an Anbu being a sensei. But these were problems for another day, and as he happily followed Kakashi back to the orphanage, the Hokage sighed peacefully.

"Minato, your son has the same face you had when you were happy. I hope he'll grow up to love this village as much as you did," the Hokage said, with some mirth, before turning angrily to his feared enemy; paperwork!

And while, perhaps, his last request was too much to hope for, Naruto certainly had nothing bad to say about Konoha. And hopefully, would not have anything bad to say for a while yet.

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Okay, about this chapter. It always feels clunky when you resolve how Naruto gets trained in almost every smart/strong Naruto fanfiction I've ever read, largely because what's in the manga will always feel the most natural, and him getting a sensei early on is about as far off as you can get. However, this is more of a transition chapter, after this I'll be getting to the better stuff, like Naruto's training and development (both socially and mentally). Basically, Naruto is living with Kakashi, who is his new sensei. Yup, that was this entire chapter in ten words. Oh well.

As for review stuff, in the lead so far is…

Naruto/Ino, with Naruto/Hana now in contention

Kakashi will be his sensei until Naruto his 10. Your choice, who will be his sensei after that, Kakashi, or someone else? Go ahead and vote.

Land of Water is in first, though I'm still open to suggestions.

A special callout to two reviewers. Challenger, for all the helpful information and advice. I hope to be able to use those names soon, thanks! Also, a giant thank you to InARealPickle, thanks for all the constructive criticism, ideas, and advice. Know of any good betas, because I'd really rather not use the English names for all the jutsu and stuff. If there are no obvious choices for a Beta, I suppose I'll look jutsu names up online and do my best, sorry for "Water Dragon" this time (though again, this was a transition chapter, so it may be modified later, it was just for progression). Well, expect another update from me in coming days, though I'll be waiting for a bit to get all the reviews and ideas I can before pumping out the next chapter.

~MadDiction


	4. What's That Affinity?

Sorry it took me so long to update, my cat died. But what do you care! More importantly (sorry, cat), thanks a ton for the reviews. As one reviewer noted, I'm okay with criticism, as long as it's constructive, and so far, I have not seen one that was purely malicious in nature. Now then, this chapter will piss some of you off. That is both normal and expected, but before you hit the back button in disgust, read the bottom Author's Notes. I assure you, I have seen where fanfics go wrong with these things, and I intend to learn from their mistakes. I suppose you'll have to trust me. Also, feel free to message any mistakes you find to me, I wrote this pretty late over the course of several nights, so there may be mistakes my tired eyes just cannot see)

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I do not own Naruto.

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Naruto walked behind Kakashi as they continued to walk towards Kakashi's apartment. Naruto was looking around, curious about how ninjas lived, but he was surprised when he saw that it was almost exactly the same as civilian apartments;. In fact, the only real difference was that the apartments were smaller. Naruto supposed ninja must spend less time at home than most civilians, but he was still surprised that ninja were not accommodated better. However, he shrugged it off; it really wouldn't matter for Naruto, he was here to learn, not live, though it seemed the two went together in this case.

Naruto looked up at a particularly tall apartment complex, just as Kakashi turned to enter it.

"Come on, Naruto, this way," Kakashi said, gesturing Naruto to head inside. Naruto just shrugged and complied, walking in and then following Kakashi up the stairs. Though perhaps dingier than the apartments in the residential district, were clean and prim. It was all colored the same indistinct pale white color, and Naruto could see that, despite its age, the building had been well maintained. Kakashi opened the door to his apartment and guided him in.

Naruto was surprised, though he didn't express it. This apartment had almost nothing in it of sentimental meaning; it had a bed, a kitchen, and that was about it, except one picture on a dresser, though Naruto couldn't make out the faces. It felt like a hotel room, as if it was ready for the next owners to move in. However, Naruto shoved these thoughts from his mind and focused, turning towards Kakashi and waiting for him to say something.

"Well, Naruto, I know it isn't much, but I'm gone for long periods of time, so I don't really do anything here but eat and sleep..." Kakashi said chuckling. Naruto nodded; he could respect that. Kakashi was focused on his goals, whatever they may be, and did not care for petty aesthetics in his apartment, an attitude Naruto reminded himself to adopt from his new sensei. After all, such things were not subjects to be studied or contests to be won; it held no purpose.

"Kakashi, where will I sleep and when shall we begin training?" Naruto asked, not beating around the bush. Kakashi could not help but be surprised. He had expected for an orphan to be curious about his new home and 'father', but Naruto was getting straight to business; this was where he slept, and Kakashi was his sensei.

"Well, Naruto, I'll go and pick up a futon for you to use tonight. For now, get used to the place, and make yourself something to eat. Training will begin tomorrow, though we won't get serious until I test you…. wait. Do you know how to make any dishes?" Kakashi suddenly asked, surprising Naruto. He thought about it and almost felt like hitting himself in the face. Of all the useless things they taught there, preparing food was taught almost near the end, and Naruto had left before they had even begun.

Naruto adopted his best embarrassment pose, one he had not used often in the past, and put one hand behind his head and said, "No, I hadn't learned it yet. Will that be alright, sensei?"

Kakashi frowned, invisibly, for a moment before his visible eye curved upwards in a smile. Kakashi said, "To be honest, Naruto, I only know how to warm up foods, I usually just buy what I need from shops. What do you say we go out to eat tonight, and I'll buy a cookbook along with a futon for us to learn from later?"

Naruto, deciding that cooking would have practical survival purposes, agreed and waited behind Kakashi, prepared to leave to go out to eat whenever he was. Kakashi's eye once again curved upwards once again before saying, "Let's go then!" and teleporting out, in what Naruto recognized as a shunshin. For a moment, Naruto could not help but be surprised. Then, he became angry, realizing his sensei, in what must have been a joke, had left him inside. Well, he would show Kakashi! His natural competitiveness flaring up, desperate not to be shown up, though he knew he was outclassed, he mimicked the handsign and chakra control he had felt other ninjas use when they teleported. He imagined himself outside, and then released his chakra. And then came a lurching feeling…

Naruto began throwing up, eyes still closed. He had no idea where he was. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and opened his eyes to see Kakashi behind him.

"First time, eh? It's normal, Naruto, to feel sick the first time you use shunshin. I'd say to wait before eating, but now you must be even hungrier!" he said, while helping Naruto to his feet. Naruto nodded and followed Kakashi, though ninja in the street were blanching at what had been left behind; both Naruto and Kakashi had forgotten to clean up Naruto's bile, and it remained there until a considerate ninja used a small **Water Bullet** jutsu to clean it up.

Kakashi was surprised. Though Naruto was not used to doing a shunshin, he had perfectly imitated a move Kakashi had used just seconds before, though Kakashi realized that it was unlikely that it was the first time Naruto had seen a shunshin, it was a very common jutsu. Kakashi decided to focus on the meal, his first meal with his sensei's son! He would focus on the training and questions tomorrow. Besides, it was fun watching the ever serious Naruto stumble like a drunk man. Though Kakashi was careful to keep a straight face as Naruto struggled against his temporary loss of coordination.

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Sitting down in an average looking restaurant, Naruto looked at the menu. Fortunately, his vision had mostly cleared up by now, though he still felt a bit funny. However, he had learned something important from that last attempt; unlike a kawirimi, in which the teleport was simply a replacement of him and another object, the shunshin put him into an entirely new place in which there had been nothing but air a moment before That gave a strange sensation that Naruto would have to investigate later.

Naruto was eating his meal, a meal that bore a close resemblance to the orphanage food. He was having a hard time shaking off the subconscious food preferences he had picked up at the orphanage. Kakashi was also eating, or coming as close as possible without letting food visibly enter his mouth. The food was disappearing and he was getting full, but Naruto could not catch the steps in between. Naruto just assumed he was eating and let it go.

They were almost done when three men walked to the table from the bar they had been at before. Though Naruto was unaware, these men wire Shikaku, Choza, and Inoichi. Naruto continued eating, while Kakashi turned ti face the men.

"Yo," Kakashi calmly said.

"Hello, Kakashi. What's up with the kid?" Inoichi asked, amused.

"Yeah Kakashi, you know if you need drinking buddies, we're always here!" Choza said, jokingly.

"Yes, well…" Kakashi started awkwardly, before clearing his throat and continuing. "This is Naruto Uzumaki, and I adopted him."

Shikaku began to choke, before asking, "How can that be? How will you take care of him when you're an Anbu? Besides, why? No offense, errrr… Naruto" Shikaku added the last part out of respect to the boy, who had finished his food and, while appearing uninterested in the conversation, was not making any attempt to disguise the fact that he was listening.

"Well, you see, the two questions go right along with each other. I'm retiring from Anbu, and repaying a favor I owed to the orphanage by raising this boy during my time off from required jounin duties," Kakashi responded. Naruto had no reaction to this, though the three men were surprised.

"Why Kakashi? You had such a promising future in Anbu!" Inoichi asked, clearly a bit frustrated that a prodigy like Kakashi was retiring so quickly from Anbu service.

"Come on guys, don't let it bother you. I'll explain more later, okay? For now, I need to get Naruto a futon and get him to bed, he must be tired after all that's happened today, right Naruto?" Kakashi asked/said while nudging Naruto to get up. Naruto was not tired in the slightest, but understood his function as an excuse, and nodded a thank you to Kakashi before bowing to the three men and leaving with Kakashi already out the door.

"Can you believe that, you guys? What is this village coming to? And what do you think will happen to that poor kid?" Choza asked his friends.

"I don't know. Though I'm almost concerned enough to bother finding out," Shikaku responded, his friends realizing that such a level of concern was rare in Shikaku. Though he was always looking underneath the underneath of the underneath, and his friends rarely knew what he was thinking.

After picking up a futon and cookbook, a rather uneventful process, though the shopkeeper was surprised when Kakashi bought a cookbook, and people were surprised to see a young boy with Kakashi. Eventually, they made it back to Kakashi's apartment and entered, where Kakashi threw the futon on the floor, said goodnight, and went to sleep. Naruto looked at the futon and then at himself. He needed a shower before going to bed, and Kakashi had, rather uncooperatively, turned out the lights already. Sighing, he upped the chakra going into his eyes until he could guide himself around. He supposed that if that was the worst of the quirks Kakashi had to bother him with, it wouldn't be so bad. Though Naruto could not shake off the feeling that it was going to get worse…

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Naruto woke up the next morning at 8:00 AM, the same time he had all those years at the orphanage. Old habits really did die hard. However, he expected Kakashi was already out and about; he had noticed that the ninja district was always busy, even when people in the residential district were still asleep. He went through his morning routine, having set up the night before, and then went into the kitchen, only to find that there was no food. Naruto frowned and his stomach growled, both of them disappointed. Naruto walked into Kakashi's room to find that the masked man was still asleep. Naruto nearly groaned; he suspected that Kakashi was a lazy ninja. Rather than press the matter and possibly irritate his sensei by waking him up, Naruto opened up the cookbook and flipped to a random page. Pulling the necessary ingredients out of the refrigerator, he prepared the meal. It was a simple as that, instructions were followed; he didn't see why cooking was hard. Naruto ate and then sat and waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually, realizing Kakashi was not about to wake up, he started meditating. About an hour later, Kakashi woke up and went through his morning routine, only to smell food. He then hustled through his remaining preparations before running to the kitchen and stuffing his face. Naruto stopped meditating and then looked at his sensei expectantly.

"Yeah, Naruto, this food is great! I thought you couldn't cook!" Kakashi said happily.

"I used the cookbook. When will training begin, sensei?" Naruto said, not about to engage in pleasantries.

Kakashi finished his meal and then said, "Right now. Come on, follow me to a training ground."

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The two walked along the streets, Kakashi waving and saying hi while Naruto followed silently behind, looking straight ahead. Naruto had made a game out of guessing ranks; he would close his eyes and sense the chakra around him and try to guess the ninja ranks of everyone near him. He would then open his eyes and see how well he did. Naruto continued playing until they reached the training field. Once there, Kakashi sat down and motioned for Naruto to follow suit. Naruto swiftly complied.

"Well, Naruto, since we'll be living together let's introduce ourselves. I'm Hatake Kakashi. I like this book, I dislike those who dislike this book, and my goal for the future is to get the sequel to this little book," Kakashi said while holding up his Icha Icha Paradise book.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like chakra and winning. I don't like…. well, losing, I suppose. I don't really have any goals for the future," Naruto said.

Kakashi though about what Naruto said. He was unhappy that Naruto had no goals and so few things he liked, but he looked at the silver lining; he basically had no dislikes. Apathetic was better than sadistic.

"Alright, Naruto. To get a basic feel for your abilities with chakra, I want you to explain to me how you managed to imitate the Water Dragon jutsu and the shunshin," Kakashi said, finally asking the question that had been on his mind since the morning before.

"I thought it was the same for everyone else. I really can't describe it. I don't memorize the handseals, but I see the chakra as it goes through the jutsu. Well, I don't see it… I kind of know where it is though. I've thought about what I'm doing before, and there's no word for it. I just know what the chakra is doing," Naruto attempted to explain.

Kakashi once again thought. The fact that he didn't see the chakra relieved some of Kakashi's worries; if he had a doujutsu of some kind it would mean the Hokage lied to him, since neither Minato nor Kushina had one. However, it didn't explain whether Naruto perhaps had a new kekkai genkai or something of that kind. Kakashi decided he would test Naruto's blood for it the next time Naruto was hospitalized, though he almost slapped himself for that. It was the first way of training, and Kakashi was already thinking about hospitalizing the poor kid.

Throughout this, Naruto just stared at Kakashi, as if wondering what he was thinking about. After a while, he noticed that Kakashi had put Icha Icha Paradise on the ground while he was thinking. Naruto decided to look at it; he wanted to know what made it so important to his sensei.

By the time Kakashi awoke from his reverie and began to talk again, it was too late. Naruto may not have understood what the book meant now, but he was impressionable, and it would be obvious to him later. Ignorant of this, Kakashi decided to get Naruto started.

"Well, Naruto, how are you in the other aspects of being a ninja? Taijutsu, genjutsu, or anything else you can think of," Kakashi asked.

"I know only the basic of taijutsu, and I know nothing of genjutsu," Naruto replied. "What is it?"

"Ahhh, genjutsu is the ninja art of controlling what another person perceives, it is related more closely to ninjutsu than taijutsu. But let's ignore that for now, let's see how fit you are. Sprint in circles around this training field until you can no longer move," Kakashi said, sitting down by a tree and beginning to read.

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Naruto did as he was told and started to run. Meanwhile, Kakashi read, read, and read some more. Eventually, he flipped to the final page of the book and sighed happily, having thoroughly enjoyed his reading. He looked up at the sky and saw that it was dark, probably past 8:00 PM. Naruto had begun running almost six hours before. Kakashi looked around the fringes of the circle looking for Naruto when he felt a large chakra source heading towards him. Kakashi shot up and looked around, only to see that Naruto was running towards him from the opposite end of the circle. Kakashi stared at the boy; he had been running for six straight hours and was still letting off that kind of chakra?

"Hey, Naruto, you feeling okay?" Kakashi asked nervously.

"Yes, sensei, I feel good. In fact, I feel better now," Naruto responded.

Kakashi could barely wrap his head around the amount of chakra Naruto had; jounin level, and while not high jounin level, it was definitely not low jounin level. While Naruto might have trouble developing the mental side of his chakra, the physical side would go up by leaps and bounds. Kakashi then focused on the second part of what Naruto had said. Was he feeling better now because he had let most of his chakra out? Perhaps his small chakra pathways had been stretched, and the pressure was now being loosened. Maybe Naruto would feel even better if he just shoved the rest of it out. It would require high chakra control, but Kakashi supposed Naruto could handle it, if he could make a Water Dragon.

"You feel better, eh? Well then, try this. Focus your chakra around the tenketsu of your body. Then connect these tenketsu. Put all of the chakra you feel safe putting into your tenketsu there," Kakashi advised.

Naruto complied then waited.

"Now then Naruto, just let it go from your body," Kakashi said calmly.

The effects were immediate. Blades of grass grew, the earth rose slightly, the water lapped wildly, ice was forming from the water stuck on leaves in the trees, static discharges went off in the air, the wind howled, and the temperature went up a few degrees. Kakashi's eyes widened as he tried to figure out what to do. Suddenly, everything stopped as Naruto sat down smiling.

"You were right, sensei, I feel very relaxed," Naruto said, smiling.

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Kakashi nodded dumbly and then gestured for Naruto to follow him. He went to the ninja supply store and whispered to the clerk. He was handed a package and Kakashi paid. Kakashi went home and Naruto diligently followed, though he secretly wanted to complain about the lack of food; he hadn't eaten since breakfast!

Once home, Kakashi ripped open the package and took out a deck of cards. However, these cards were all blank. Kakashi took one out and held it in front of Naruto.

"Last thing for today, Naruto. Channel some chakra into this card," Kakashi said, with no emotion.

Naruto, a bit confused, took the card and then said, "Wait, I got one of these before in a scroll the Hokage gave me! I channeled chakra through it, though it didn't do much…"

"Just try again," Kakashi demanded, not capable of accepting that the result was as Naruto said.

Naruto did as told and was unsurprised when the card, upon receive his chakra, began to crackle mildly with electricity before becoming a bit damp.

"See, Kakashi. It doesn't do much. What does it mean?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi looked dumbfounded. One might think the absence of a strong affinity would be disheartening, but not so. The fact that his chakra had demonstrated a fairly large natural affinity for all the elements earlier was shocking. The fact that he had controlled elements which he was not even dominantly affinitied towards was far more impressive. Kakashi almost shuddered to think about the potential Naruto had for all the elements, nonetheless lightning and water jutsu.

That elements could only be controlled through kekkai genkai or affinities was a myth. Chakra did not discriminate between the elements; it controlled all of them equally. It was simply that controlling a complex combination of elements, such as wood or ice, was more than humans without the aid of affinities or bloodlines could handle. Any kage could, after pumping out all their chakra at once, make a tree grow a few inches, or make a flower bloom. It was simply that the Shodaime Hokage could do so with minimal chakra and effort that made it so amazing.

The fact that Naruto, a five year old with underdeveloped chakra, could use the remainder of his large supply of chakra to do something almost as pronounced as that showed he had an unnatural tendency towards chakra in general. It was astounding. Of course, Kakashi understood that Naruto would never be as proficient in wood as the Shodaime, or ice as someone with a Hyouton bloodline. However, his control over the remaining elements would be superb, and, with proper guidance, he could learn some basic jutsu from either wood or ice, or perhaps make his own combination of elements! Of course, this was far easier said than done. Users of these elements was rare, and teachers rarer. But it was that Naruto had the potential of doing any of this at all at 5 years old that was amazing. He was certainly not a prodigy in the same way as Itachi, born with godlike reflexes, speed, and intelligence. He was a prodigy in that all requirements of being a ninja he was a genius. In chakra capacity, control, reflexes, intelligence… he was not a master of one, but of all. And Kakashi would do whatever it took to get his sensei's son to the peak of his potential.

'You had an amazing son, sensei,' Kakashi thought, with stars in his eyes.

It was only when he smelled food that he awoke from his reverie, which he noticed he was having an awful lot of today, and stormed into the kitchen, starving.

"I got tired of waiting, sensei," Naruto said with a small grin.

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Yes, Naruto is capable of controlling every element, including mokuton (which I just refer to as wood). However, no yelling that it's a kekkai genkai, or that it is OP or impossible. In my fic, chakra is just life force; there's no logical reason for it to not be able to control some things when used by some people, and other things with other people. In my fic, bloodlines only give people the capability to effectively use these elements, since practical use of an element as complex as wood or ice is impossible for normal ninja.

It is not OP on Naruto for the same reason. Sure, he CAN use it. But why bother, when he's so much better at the simpler five elements? And even better with his main two, electricity and water. For sneak attacks making a vine shoot out is great, for battles, not so much.

As for chakra capacity, Naruto is maxed out on knowledge. He'll be kage level with chakra by the time he's 15+, I'll tell you that, but he will never reach infinite-chakra levels. He can now only improve the physical side of his chakra capacity, not the mental. (He maxed out on mental because his understanding of the chakra in him and around him is so great)

As for whether he can see chakra or not. He cannot see it, but it's also more then feeling it. Because it exists outside of our comprehension, it's impossible to describe. Kind of like when you feel like something is going to happen, and it does seconds later. If someone asked how you knew, you would not be able to find the right words. You just did. In the same way, Naruto feels the chakra around him. Feeling the chakra is not enough alone for Naruto to get a juts right on his first try. Be fair, water ended up being one of his main elements, making the water dragon much easier. And as for shunshin, he'd seen it hundreds of times before, just never tried it.

Is Naruto OP? Maybe compared to Academy students, yes. But with people like Itachi, Pein, and Madara in existence, you need to be a prodigy to make it into the big times; Naruto has only what he needs. In addition, without straight up cheats like the Sharingan or shadow clones, Naruto only learns jutsu at an advanced rate; he won't know 1000 jutsu by the time he's 12, but he'll know 50 pretty well. Oh, by the way, Naruto will use clones of all kinds, but he will not use the knowledge cheat on shadow clones. It's all well and good that people manage to abuse that trick, but I hate it. If it exists for Naruto, it should exist for everyone else too. Why shouldn't everyone who knows how to use shadow clones have perfect chakra control, if it works so well for Naruto? Because Naruto can make 10000 clones? Cool, that was an inventive loophole.

On to the stuff about the story.

Am I slowing down? Yes, but not as much as I feared.

Will there be more people Naruto interacts with soon? Maybe not in the next chapter, but yes, definitely soon.

Will the jutsus ever be in Japanese? Yes, absolutely, when one of two things happen. 1: I get a beta that will help me out there. 2: I'll do it by the 6th or seventh chapter the latest, beta or no. I won't make you go longer than that with English names, especially since this fic is ninjutsu heavy.

No more honorifics? Yup, as a reviewer pointed out, I really abused them. Reading Naruto fanfics is no excuse for learning the proper way to use them, and I'm not going to insult a language just because I'm low on time.

Naruto's main affinities are lightning and water, that's final? Yes, though he WILL use any element that is appropriate for the situation, as any decent ninja would.

Sorry for the super long A/N, now on to the final bit, polls!

Pairing: Graded by % for convenience, based on quality and number of requests.

No Paring: 60%

Naruto/Ino: 20%

Other: 20%

Leaning towards no pairing.

Favorite country: Kirigakure, whatever you want to call Water Country (so far). Good to know.

Finally, since there will always be complaints, I'l give you guys the final say. Should Naruto be able to use all the elements, though not really efficiently for the tough ones, or should he be limited to the basic five? Up to you guys.

Once again, I'm sorry about the long Author's Notes. Thanks for the reviews and sticking with me! (If you see typos/plot contradictions, feel free to message me about them, even if you don't want to beta for me or anything. They bother me too. I'll even fix and update my older chapters)

~MadDiction


	5. Naruto's Back, Baby

A/N at bottom

I do not own Naruto

After eating, Naruto and Kakashi retired to their respective beds. Kakashi lay in bed for several hours, mulling over the events of the day. It was all shocking, and it felt like everything after Kakashi learned that Naruto was Minato's son was a blur. He sat brooding until his mind cleared and he finally fell asleep.

Naruto, on the other hand, passed out almost upon hitting the bed, giving him no time to contemplate what had happened that day. He just felt so good after releasing his chakra that he could not help but relax and sleep.

The routine of the morning before was repeated almost exactly, the only difference being that this time Naruto cooked the meal much more quickly and much sooner. This gave him time to think about what he was going to do today. Yesterday had gotten out of his hands quickly, and though he had felt better after the training, he did not feel like he had learned anything or had become more skilled with chakra. Today he resolved to ask Kakashi to teach him something; it was preferable that it be chakra-related, but Naruto would settle for general ninja training if it would get him to chakra exercises later.

Kakashi woke up late as he had the day before and walked into the kitchen, still half asleep. As he ate, Naruto watched silently from the door where he was sitting, waiting to go. Although Naruto could not help but notice that, even with direct observation, Kakashi's face was not visible. It was disturbing to see food go into a body without a mouth, but Naruto shrugged it off. Even in his few years of life, he had seen stranger things.

Kakashi finished and walked through the door, once again gesturing for Naruto to follow. Naruto silently complied once again, still waiting for training. They continued to walk towards the same training ground as the day before when a man in green jumped in front of Kakashi. Naruto looked up at the man and immediately noticed two strange things; the man was wearing a green spandex suit, and he had enormous eyebrows. Finished observing, Naruto stood still and waited for Kakashi to finish so they could continue moving.

However, before Kakashi could say anything, the man in green yelled, "Hello Kakashi, my eternal rival! What are you doing up so early? And who is the youthful boy?"

Kakashi lazily responded, "I'm fine Gai. This is my… pupil, and his name is Naruto Uzumaki. We've got to get going, see ya!"

Fortunately for Kakashi, Gai would not be lengthening the conversation. He simply nodded, smiled once again at Naruto, and jumped away. Kakashi looked at Naruto expectantly, clearly hoping for a reaction. When Naruto disappointed with his calm gaze, Kakashi sighed and kept walking.

Once at the training ground, Kakashi turned to Naruto and said, "So, Naruto, today I figured that we would work on the basics. For now, I brought along some weight to help you with endurance, since running doesn't seem like it will do it for you."

Kakashi held up the weights and Naruto stuck out his arms. Kakshi carefully slid the weights onto Naruto's arms, demonstrating the locking mechanism, and then handed the two remaining ones to Naruto. Kakashi looked at Naruto's legs, and Naruto, taking the hint, put them on his legs and stood ready to show Kakashi he had finished.

"Good. Those will weigh you down a bit, and help you get stronger faster. They're pretty light, only 5 kilograms each for now. We'll increase the weights when you get older," Kakashi said, smirking.

Naruto just stared.

"Errr, yes. Well, today we'll be working on the basics of taijutsu, genjutsu, and medic jutsu. I know you may not like these as much as ninjutsu, but you may find them necessary. Later, when you are more developed, we will select a specialty from amongst these ninja arts and focus on that one. However, I still think you ought to know the basics of these three, in addition to ninjutsu," Kakashi explained to Naruto.

Naruto responded, "That all sounds fine, sensei, but I have never seen nor heard of genjutsu or medic jutsu. What are they?"

Kakashi almost slapped himself. He had gotten so used to how intelligent Naruto was that he no longer looked at Naruto as the inexperienced five and a half years old kid that he was. Of course, Naruto would never see these two rarer ninja arts in the residential district.

Kakashi said, "Okay, Naruto. Genjutsu is the art of illusuion, using your chakra to interfere with another person's senses. With enough practice, you can make someone actually believe they are experiencing anything you, or they, can imagine. Medic jutsu is the ninja art of healing. It uses the life force part of chakra to restore life to another living thing. A part of medic jutsu is also in using precise instruments for surgery, and diagnosing jutsu or machines to properly identify what the problem is. What these two arts have in common is that they both require excellent chakra control, making women the predominant users of these ninja arts. Hmmmm… I'm not sure if you know this, Naruto, but men typically have more chakra and less control than women. That's just how it seems to work. You get all that, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded in the affirmative and stood ready for further instructions, making Kakashi marvel at the boy. He was extremely intelligent and determined; two necessary qualities for the making of a great ninja.

"Alright, Naruto, let's get started!" Kakashi exclaimed, which startled Naruto a little.

(6 months later)

Naruto finished a sequence of attacks against a training dummy under the watchful eye of Kakashi. Naruto, hanging his head in order to catch his breath, glanced at Kakashi for a sign of approval and got one in the form of a "smiling" eye.

"Am I done now, sensei?" Naruto asked Kakashi, though he was already edging towards the path back towards Kakashi's apartment; he was hungry, and was fairly certain he had properly executed the set.

"Not quite Naruto," Kakashi began. "I know that you have made enormous progress, and for a six year old you are unmistakably one of the most talented children I've ever seen. But you and I both know you could do better in taijutsu. Half the time you do so well it surprises me, not because you did it but because you look like you couldn't put in less effort if you wanted to!" Naruto just smiled back at Kakashi.

"Yeah, I'm sorry Kakashi, but you know I only do taijutsu because you make me in order to do ninjutsu. I honestly have no interest in more complex taijutsu than this, but I really do want to learn more complex ninjutsu," Naruto explained.

Kakashi could only sigh; this was a problem he had been dealing with since the beginning of Naruto's training. Naruto really did work hard at taijutsu. His "slacking off" was failing to put in the huge amount of intensity and focus that he did for most any other chakra related subject. Naruto was perfectly willing to sweat and bleed for taijutsu should Kakashi say so. No, it was simply a lack of motivation that made Naruto's taijutsu lag behind the rest of his skills. That thought, however, made Kakashi chuckle aloud. Naruto was so far ahead of almost every other ninja at his age that any teacher who heard him complaining would likely kill him. Kakashi pondered the issue of Naruto's motivation while forcing Naruto to stand awkwardly and wait for Kakashi to speak; Kakashi had a hard time embarrassing Naruto in front of his friends, despite the fact that his much older friends all enjoyed poking fun at Naruto. Naruto had a strange way of turning any insult against him into a compliment, and any situation which would embarrass other six year old boys only caused Naruto to smirk, or stand solemnly. So Kakashi's only real joy was in turning Naruto's seemingly infinite patience against him.

After several minutes of awkward silence, in which Naruto changed from restless shifting to an almost complete stillness, Kakashi was so disturbed that he told himself to get Naruto a psyche check; this amount of patience was just unnatural.

Kakashi finally broke the silence, saying, "Alright, Naruto, here's the deal. To be honest, I don't like taijutsu enough to force it into you. From now on, I'll be teaching you exclusively chakra-based lessons." This caused Naruto to widen his eyes in surprise; he had not seen that coming. He was just thinking that it was too good to be true when Kakashi continued, "From now on every other day or so I'm sending you to Gai for several hours. If he can't make you love taijutsu, no one can. And hey, when you're not with him, you can focus on those chakra exercises you love so much!"

Naruto wanted to be happy, he really did. But the best he could manage was a wary grin, due mainly to Kakashi's eye forming a cruel smirk. Naruto knew a bad sign when he saw one.

Well, I'll cut it off right there, and save the next bit for later. I felt bad that people wanted an update so much, so I decided to post this (call it part 1 of the whole chapter) before the next bit is done. It may not be up to par, but that'll have to be dealt with later. I'm not going to make excuses, I'm bored of writing this story, but it happens; I'll have an idea and write for a while, so don't consider this the end. In any case, I had a rough end of the last semester, ended with 3 A's and a C in AP Calc, which pissed me off quite a lot, but at least I'll have more free time again. For now, read and enjoy. I'm still debating where Naruto will go, but as for the polls, I'm leaning towards no paring again; Naruto will still need to interact with people, and women will obviously be interested, but this doesn't seem like an appropriate scenario for Naruto to be into a relationship sort of thing; in general, Naruto shouldn't be interested at all (except for chakra).

Naruto is OP, but he'll have plenty of enemies; currently he's far too lacking in stature to compete with larger ninja, and later he'll still probably be outmatched in strength. Of course, this is compared to adult ninja, so Naruto will not have much competition in his age group.

I'm going to try to go back and edit older chapters to help with getting back into it, so if there are any fixes you want repost them now. In addition, I feel like I addressed Naruto's unique affiliation with chakra enough in the last chapter, so I am not going to do it here. The point about Naruto being able to use shadow clones only because of his healing abilities (I saw this in a review by someone, and I forgot whom, sorry) makes perfect sense to me and works well here, as Naruto obviously does not have said regenerative abilities.

I'm going to try to get part 2 of this chapter out much faster, so I can get back into my whole Naruto universe. Sorry if this chapter is a bit shoddy. I'm actually feeling a little bit more chipper by the end of this monologue; I'll continue writing later today. So, a final sorry, for every complaint you will inevitably have, and a good bye.


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